Last week, a girl named Amelia set out on a mission to uncover a mystery she happened upon while sifting through old belongings of her grandfather’s – Carlos Moreau. With the hope of creating a documentary about his life, about the stories he’d tell her as a child, she discovered a series of photos and writings of his, from back in the day; from the 50′s and 60′s to be more precise.

One of her big discoveries was information about a short story he named “Orbit’s Story” (which he later sold to Walt Disney, and to which he never returned). With this in mind, Amelia set up a blog site at storyorbit.com where she continues to share her discoveries, and also began the @storyorbit twitter account for a little more personal touch with her followers.

Further discoveries include photos taken in and around the “It’s a small world” [IASW] ride at the World’s Fair. The picture Amelia shared of the stack of photos included a couple of hand-written notes, also implying a secret “special project”.

One of the notes also included the phone number (607) 218-5820, that of a company named Lott Family Construction. Calling the number prompts an automated voicemail message from a rather non-technical individual, directing callers to the company’s website: LottFamilyConstruction.com.

This appears to be the company under which construction of the IASW exhibit was commissioned. Further research reveals that the name of its founder, Michael T Lott, does actually appear on a window on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom! Walt Disney and his crew had created fictional companies to purchase land in Florida, and Lott Family Construction may well be one of those companies (in case you haven’t got it yet – read, “M T Lott”)

However, it also seems that not only is it Michael who records the voicemail message, but you are able to contact the company – and Michael – through email. Is Michael Lott real and alive?

Something is fishy about this “special project”, and its connection to It’s a small world, and the Four Winds sculpture which greets people at the exhibit’s entrance.

The Lott Construction website’s client list includes a number of interesting projects, such Mystery Manor and Deluca Fields listed under Special Projects, which follows Cultural Landmarks including Progressland and “it’s a small world”.

Email responses from Michael Lott include a small disclaimer in the footer about privacy and security, but also instructions for clients about about how to access information about their ongoing projects – found on their website by simply appending the project code to the web address. Does this mean there are ‘secret’ projects we can explore on Lott’s website?

Next, Amelia shared a photo of another letter, this one dated June 23, 1952 – Disney’s first contact with Carlos, interested in his Orbit’s Story – over 10 years prior to Carlos’ invitation to the World’s Fair.

What exactly did Disney do with this mysterious short story of Carlos’?

Amelia continues to research her grandfather’s old possessions, looking for more hidden, secret information, and you can follow her progress at storyorbit.com and @storyorbit.

META

Interestingly, speculation arose from Amelia’s followers regarding suspicious similarities in the discoveries so far… The letter from Walt Disney Productions to Carlos was dated 1952 – which happens to be the working title for Disney’s upcoming 2014 Damon Lindelof film Tomorrowland, taking place in 1964.

Back in January, in an eerily similar set of events, following a tweet by Damon Lindelof teasing a photo of a box only labeled “1952″, director Brad Bird tweeted a picture of the box opened, which revealed a whole mess of really cool old…stuff.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BradBirdA113/status/294241097444634625]

Could this be a new big ARG for Disney’s sci-fi flick Tomorrowland? All signs and theories point to Yes!

The official (meta) website for this campaign called “The Optimist” describes it:

Walter Elias Disney was an optimist who believed in creating a living blueprint for the future. He and his Imagineers – those creative and skilled professional wizards who combine imagination and engineering – made fantasy into reality and built the magic of the Disney Theme Parks. But, what if that was just the beginning?

Amelia, a young filmmaker, has stumbled upon a revolutionary secret…and she needs your help. Collaborate with other curious individuals around the globe to solve a mystery that traverses the web, Disneyland® Park, and beyond before culminating at the D23 Expo.

The D23 Expo takes place in Anaheim, California August 9-11, 2013, which makes this a 6 week experience. The film isn’t slated for release for over a year. So, what will await the community at the end of this journey?

We hear that the collaborators are planning an elaborate, very J.J. Abrams–like advanced marketing campaign that will start before filming even begins. The idea is to stage a treasure hunt for intrigued moviegoers that will gradually reveal clues about and build intrigue for the film right up until its release, and which may or may not be related to the contents of the box.

It’s wonderful how much curious fans have already researched and discovered about the real history of Disney! There are some fascinating little-known facts being uncovered. Be sure to follow along with the community:

Today, Wikibruce received a package via UPS. Its avian contents were simple. A photo of a barn swallow with a hand-written message on the back, a Sony IC Recorder.

The message on the reverse reads:

Greetings from Innsbruck, Geoff.

Spied this fellow building his nest unusually high in a tree. I believe that means the snow will be better here this year. Including a recording of his lovely little song for your enjoyment. Do with it what you will.

Cheers, J

On powering up the recorder, the display shows one audio clip. It’s named “50-112-251-215″, with a song title “barn swallow” by author “Jonathon Jongsma”.

My package, which I noticed was numbered as #8, is only one of few delivered to various sources. ARGN.com also received a package today, reporting on its contents, and discussion has begun at the Unfiction forums.

Puzzling clues…

The four numbers resolve to an IP address, 50.112.251.215. When visiting the IP address as a website, “a top secret” website is revealed for the Royal Secret Intelligence Service. It contains a prompt to analyze audio from your microphone as an aural password verification step.

Putting two and two together, when playing the sound barn swallow audio clip, the user is verified and…

…the adventure begins! Try it yourself, then see where it takes you.

Edited to add this tip: Thanks to ARGN, you can play this audio clip via Youtube after enabling the aural capture. If your speakers are loud enough, the sound should be successfully recognized.

Also of note, viewing the website’s source code reveals a few bits of information hidden as meta data. This text also strangely includes multiple instances of the unicode character 9608:

“For ██ ██ eyes only. If you are not ██ ██ please delete immediately. This ████ provides access to the ██ ██ selection exam which identifies recruits for ████ and ██ ██ in the field. Do not share this link.”

And a strange sequence of the 9608 character:

“██ ████ █ ███ █ ██”

With the next Bond flick Skyfall releasing in theatres on November 9th, could this interactive adventure be the lead-in to a larger ARG-like campaign? Or is this is a one-stop entertainment production?

If you’ve run through the experience, successfully or not, share your experience in the comments below! Or join in the conversation at Unfiction.

September 19, 2012 – Toronto, ON - ByoLogyc, in conjunction with Health Canada, has completed studies which have revealed conditions suggestive of a viral outbreak in the Greater Toronto Area. Initial reports, though still early, have indicated a connection between the root cause of the viral outbreak and ByoRenew. Despite recent complications with the HPFB, Health Canada will continue to work with ByoLogyc to aid and assist customer and civilian alike.

Early analysis of collected samples indicates the discovery a new virus, known as BRX. External and internal reviews of ByoLogyc’s systems indicate BRX to be a variant of the transfer virus distributed in ByoRenew pills. These reviews further indicate that BRX was produced as a result of a network-based attack on ByoLogyc’s production infrastructure in late June by an online terrorist organization, suggesting that this organization may have maliciously generated and sought to spread this virus using ByoRenew as a vector.

At this time, ByoLogyc is pursuing legal action against the online terrorist organization, known as EXE, for online invasion and violation of the intellectual property rights of ByoLogyc. We are currently working with both the Toronto Police force as well as the RCMP in the pursuit of justice.

In case of city wide medical emergency, ByoLogyc is prepared and committed to helping the Toronto City Council in both containment and sanitation. To this end, ByoLogycs SCD (Sanitation and Containment Division) stands ready to protect the population.

As a precaution, ByoLogyc will be running a FREE Public Health and Community Wellness Clinic on September 29, at the Church of the Holy Trinity, in conjunction with Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. By holding the Clinic at this time, we hope to reach a wide section of the population and maximize its impact. Visitors to the Clinic will receive a free ByoRenew 2.0 primer pill, which has been custom designed to act as an early-stage vaccine against BRX.

Due to the high volume of inquiries we receive daily, we would like to provide you with the answers to frequently asked questions:

Should I panic?
Absolutely not. Test results from joint studies by Health Canada and ByoLogyc indicate that BRX has low-grade symptoms and low transmissibility. Though symptoms are wide ranging, victims may only experience personality distortion, blurry vision, a craving for high calorie food items, and fatigue.

What is the SCD?
The Sanitation and Containment Division of ByoLogyc is a newly formed department with the singular mandate of ensuring that the BRX outbreak is contained, and effects on members of the public are minimized. ByoLogyc is diverting substantial resources to this operation. The SCD is headed by Renata Reinger, who has been with ByoLogyc since 1992. As the former Chief Custodian, her expertise with chemical and biological containment, as well as superior knowledge of closed and open environment contaminations are assets that ByoLogyc wishes to utilize to their fullest potential.

What is EXE?
EXE is an online terrorist organization which disrupted production at ByoLogyc and is believed to have caused the manufacture and distribution of the BRX virus, using ByoRenew as a vector. They are also believed to have repeatedly accessed and disseminated to the public sensitive materials and documents. Despite sometimes referring to themselves as ByoLeaks, they have no association with ByoLogyc.

Obligatory Disclaimer: ByoLogyc Inc. is a fictional pharmaceutical biotechnology firm, and the central component of an interactive theatrical production being executed by ZED.Toronto and TheMission.biz. There is no viral outbreak. Unless you consider a large fanbase and audience enthusiastically enjoying the experience a viral outbreak of excitement!

Scotiabank Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night event that takes place in Toronto featuring contemporary art exhibits and productions throughout the streets of downtown Toronto.

ByoLogyc will be there, attempting to stop the spread of the BRX virus.
Will you be there to accept their proposed remedy of ByoRenew 2.0?

When the ARGFest fires are lit and burning, the ARG wheels keep on turning! Late last week, Wikibruce received a package in the mail containing some time-sensitive content, with a message dated July 13.

Unfortunately, by the time it was received, the deadline for retrieval of July 20 had long passed. @Wikibruce then received word from @FelicityVelius that the deadline had been extended two weeks. From July 20, that means the following task must be completed by August 3rd — 3 days as of the time of this writing.

Package contents…

Letter number 1…

Dearest Wikibruce:I have followed your work with interest. Enclosed is a key and directions.

My time is running out, you will not hear from me again.

Open the box by July 20.

Yours, Felicity(meow)

The deadline, via contact, has been extended to August 10th.

Letter number 2…

The card reads:

A Merry Christmas
Tis sweet to be remembered, if only with a thought,
So am sending you kind wishes that never could be bought.
( Grace )

The post-it note reads:

F-
This is all I could get out of the Archive. They’ve been at it for a while, huh?
-D

A message to Grace…

Hand-written message reads:

My Dear Colleague,

How blessed we are to reside in a land with a reliably prompt and private post. You will be pleased to hear that our commodity reallocation plan is proceeding according to schedule. Heavy investment in Steel, Rubber, Copper and Crude Oil should serve us well through the close of this Decade. If you have not already done so, our dear friend, Baron R. who I have been told is quite well though advanced in years, suggests a gradual sale of any European consumer based assets before the close of 1913.
To Our Continued Success, E. Harrison

Handling notes:
To be destroyed by or collected upon the death of recipient
A147-1B-1912

Copyright closer look…

No. 4 M.Copyright, 1912.Canterbury SeriesWA-WildeCo-Boston-Chicago

What we can gather from this mailing is that there is an archive of “European consumer based assets” originally from ~1911-13 that were being distributed, which were likely in the possession of “Baron R” and being handled by “Grace” and “E Harrison” (the writer of the message). The letter was sent to “Mr Eugene McKinstry” in Seattle (per the envelope) in 1912, which was only recently sent to “F” (Felicity) from “D” (unknown). Felicity then in turn mailed the retrieval instructions to Wikibruce.

The question is – how will Wikibruce retrieve the box with the key by August 10th? Any suggestions?

In this guest report, “Eggz” describes the dramatic events that occurred during a recent special ByoLogyc VIP event…

June 28th was a very special day for ByoLogyc, Toronto’s technological leader in biotech-pharmaceuticals. They had invited a number of their top VIPs, members of their Versatile Intern Program, to an intimate Meet and Greet at Toronto’s Victory Cafe to personally thank them for all their contributions in helping make the future a better place.

Most of the ByoLogyc top brass were in attendance; aloof and reclusive CEO Chet Getram accompanied by CFO Bernice Hammersmith, VP of Human Resources Henry Chan made a rare public appearance and was surprisingly charming and animated. The shy head or Research and Development, Dr Davian Baxter was accompanied by his right-hand woman Adrian Quinn, who furiously took notes and disinfected her hands at every opportunity. Present as well was the lovely Felicity Chapman, party planner extraordinaire who does numerous events for the company, though this particular gathering had been left in the hands of the CEO’s personal assistant Denis Kirkham. Brad Mitchell was on-hand to represent the Markham facility, Marie Leclerc made sure everyone was having a good time, and IT Director Dahlia Joss arrived just before the speeches started, despite a demanding week dealing with the passing of her father and fighting off hackers from the company website.

Denis started off the evening by Giving his glowing praises of Chet Getram, and how he would not be in the position he is now without Chet’s direct guidance. He then ceded the floor to a very anxious Davian, who briefly discussed the latest advancements they have been undertaking in the lab in the final production stages of ByoRenew, though he quickly got off-track talking about how their tests have affected the local population of rats. After bringing Davian back on track, Chet took things over by giving those present an insight into the projected launch and progression of ByoRenew over the next year. ByoRenew prescriptions will be tailored to each individual, and will be able to combat everything from colds to cancers. The next three months would see a roll-out over North America and Europe, the next six months would see a worldwide decline in infectious diseases of all kinds, and in only one year “lifestyle expectancy” would increase everywhere. Simply stated, ByoLogyc has high expectations for their latest product.

The end of the speeches marked a beginning to the one-on-one interviews with Chet and Davian. VIPs were to trade off with one or the other for a more personal talk with the two top brass to discuss their expectations, dedication and interests. A few minutes into the first set of interviews, however, Denis interrupted. Apparently Davian had yet to sign some sort of release, and it wasn’t something that Denis thought could wait to be addressed at the office. Chet was furious, dropping everything he was doing to call Davian over. He called him irresponsible, and that since Adrian is really the brains in the lab that he should have the time to sign a damn paper. Davian, visibly shaking with anger, whispered something to Chet, and stormed out.

And that was just the beginning of the drama for the evening. After some previous confusion with the venue, and it being double-booked with another party, it was discovered that the bathrooms were in a less-than-sanitary state, leading to Denis being reprimanded as well. It also became clear that there were some inter-departmental tensions: some staff questioned Olive’s methods of achieving her latest promotion, and there was the previously mentioned outburst between the execs and the lab, and also with IT. After a loud fight with Denis just a step away from the main party, Dahlia fainted from stress.

Overall, the Meet and Greet exposed to the public the internal politics of the otherwise outwardly “perfect” ByoLogyc family. As the story progresses, and with this week’s ByoRenew launch at the Toronto Fringe fest, it will be interesting to see how these relationships further progress, and to see where the battle lines will be drawn.

In addition to all the inter-employee drama, ByoLogyc provided for perusal a sensitive document to VIPs which previewed the ByoRenew product and upcoming PR material. They were very protective of the documents, however, with Marie and Denis among others watching carefully as members examined the document, ensuring no photos nor notes were taken.

Clearly, this product, being described as “an immune system software update” will either be a life- and world-changing pharmaceutical product, or it’s still in an experimental, unstable, potentially harmful stage. Do they not want competitors to steal their ideas? Or do they not want any issues, controversies, and failures leaked out to public?

ByoLogyc will be presenting their ByoRenew product, at Where You Become New during the Toronto Fringe Festival, between July 4th and 15th in downtown Toronto. Tickets are $13 and can be purchased at fringetix.ca. This presentation is one of the primary shows being produced by ZED.to, part of a unique crowd-funded interactive drama series taking place in Toronto and online through to October’s finale event.

ByoLogyc Inc, biotech corporation based out of Toronto, Ontario has released their first VIP newsletter to its members. Inside are write-ups discussing some of their products, staff, a VIP of the month, event news, and results of social surveys conducted by ByoLogyc over the past couple of months.

Also making headlines is news that quality assurance specialist Olive Swift (@) has been promoted to Vice President of Quality Assurance. A significant promotion, indeed!

Back in March, as a VIP member myself, I was invited to ByoLogyc’s 20th anniversary celebration at the Ingram Gallery in Toronto. There, we got a taste of ByoLogyc’s line of life enhancing products, and had an opportunity to chat and mingle with its staff, including ByoLogyc CEO Chet Getram. Aside from a small disturbance, the event was smooth and enjoyable.

ByoLogyc was also a presenter at NXNEi in Toronto on June 15th, 2012. Their presentation was slick and organized for those in attendance, except for an unexpected hiccup which was dealt with swiftly by ByoLogyc’s IT director Dahlia Joss (@). Video from the presentation can be viewed at Ustream.

ByoLogyc will be presenting a special event at the Fringe Festival in Toronto, July 4 through 15:

Come be a part of ByoLogyc’s Versatile Intern Program.
Test their range of lifestyle biotech solutions, meet the company’s movers and shakers, and get in on the ground level of the ZED.TO story which runs from the Fringe through Nuit Blanche into the end of 2012… and the world as we know it.
Warnings: Interactivity & tangible futures.

You, too, can join the VIP program by visiting and signing up at vip.byologyc.com.

Disclaimer, please note:

ByoLogyc is a completely trustworthy, ethical, and forward-thinking biotechnology company, seeking only to improve quality of life – unlike the falsehoods being spread by fringe detractor group “ByoLeaks”. …Right?

Monday was a slow day… But then it started looking up when a package (beware, this word will be used extensively throughout this report) was found delivered to the doorstep of Wikibruce! This package was bulky, but light and soft. My eyes were drawn to the corner, whereupon a 2×3 collage of… well, perhaps you should take a look at the photos below, and see what you can make of it…

The “Package”

Shipped from Toronto, this, umm, package sports on its cover a colourful array of pantalons in various states of undress.

The note…

A note that reads [sic]:

To Who It Concers: I Like The Cut Of Your Jibb. Join My Team Dont Delay!! Apply Today!!!

Yours Jud

The package also contained another single strip (pun not intended) collage of states of undress.

Tighty Whities…

Unfolded from within its envelope was a pair of fresh tighty whities. And, smack on the sweet spot, yes indeed – a QR code. Just when you thought they couldn’t be placed anywhere worse.

They put a QR code on it.

The QR code on it…

A closeup of the QR code on it – on the package, within the package.

Blinded by its majesty, I threw caution to the wind and scanned the QR code on it. This in turn led me to:

(the following has been updated since initially posted – apparently a mistake in the puzzle was fixed)

Now, firstly, each of these QR codes are comprised of both blue and black dots. Each these (including the home page) have blue dots spanning a central horizontal column.

Out of healthy curiosity, one can choose to combine the blue dots, as depicted in the result below. (only 3 have been combined in the image below, so you get the idea)

It seems pretty clear that a word is forming in the center. Which, conveniently, may well play into this next puzzle:

The final page of the above trail, putaqrcodeonit.com/hiding, presents a hexagonal dial leading to six private, locked videos, each requiring a password. The webpage title reads “cyche“.

Could the blue dots form the password?

Viral Verdict

There’s something creepy afoot here. Someone has a thing for underwear, and QR codes. This may be a very volatile combination… on the other hand, it could be the start to a highly entertaining promotion for a new high culture fashion trend.

Yet these questions remain:

Who is “Jud”?

Who is on his/her team?

Where is he/she hiding?

What are the video passwords?

Should I wear the tighty whities?

What secrets am I hiding?

I leave these up to you (most of them), oh wondrous ARG community! Tear this thing apart. Get to the bottom of it all. No time to waist bandying about!

If you have any input or solutions, please post your comments below, or visit the Unfiction forums and join in the discussion.

After JJ Abrams’ new TV series premiered on January 16th, visitors to LegendsOfAlcatraz.com were presented a short puzzle. Solving this puzzle revealed a cryptic announcement for an event that would take place at N37 49.6062 W122 25.3793907 – Alcatraz Island.

The announcement [image] indicated a time of “9:14″, and the dates January 27, 28, 29. On Wednesday, more details were provided:

We now know that the event will take place Friday evening, of January 27th. “It Begins.”

Dr. Soto has arranged exclusive night-time access to the Rock for those interested in helping him solve mysteries for his new book – “Legends of Alcatraz”.

The first 302 volunteers to check in when and where we say on Friday are selected.
Don’t miss this special once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

What to bring:

A flashlight

Warm clothes

A comfortable pair of shoes

Note:

This event will last approximately 2-3 hours. Food and drink will not be permitted on the island so please eat before you come.

Parking is not provided.

If under the age of 18, you must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Valid ID required.

302 people – that’s number of guards and prisoners who ‘disappeared’ from Alcatraz in 1963.

Diego himself posted a new update to his comic shop’s tumblr, linking to an organization that re-enacts history. Could this be a hint of something we might see Friday night?

I can’t wait for them to do this again. Fort Point has a “Civil War Living History Day,” organized by the Friends of Civil War Alcatraz.

http://www.friendsofcivilwaralcatraz.org/LHD.htm

Attendees to Friday’s event will likely experience quite a memorable adventure, even if only for the visit to Alcatraz Island itself, at night. If “Diego” is indeed there, then expect more than just a simple tour of Alcatraz.

Can’t be there and want to see what happens during the event? Wikibruce will also be there!

Alcatraz Spaghetti Riot, 1950
Inmates had to find ways to communicate under the watchful eye of the prison guards. Scholars still wonder how they managed to coordinate exactly what time to stage their uprising.

Users were prompted to provide the correct answer… but how?

Looking closely at the blackboard message, there are a number of letters missing:

The GPS coordinates N37 49.6062 W122 25.3793907 point to Alcatraz Island, and some have even attempted to narrow it down to a specific location within the prison. If the precise coordinates are indeed of any importance, here’s my estimate:

(diagram courtesy alcatrazhistory.com)

Clue: Time

“9:14″ – Is this in the morning? At night? As of this posting, no further details are known, but likely more will be revealed this week through @AlcatrazLegends and the hash tag.

What we do know

Something is happening at Alcatraz at 9:14am or pm, on the 27th, 28th, or 29th. If you’re in the area, make sure to plan your trip to the island soon – Visit AlcatrazCruises.com, with ferries launching from Pier 33 regularly. Let’s hope we get some more details before Friday!

Tune in tonight on Fox at 9pm EST for the latest new episode of Alcatraz – and don’t forget to bookmark LegendsOfAlcatraz.com!

What do a dying white flower, a Ford Mustang lapel pin, and a comic book store have in common?

They’re three of a hand-full of cryptic items received by a number of media and community outlets, including Wikibruce.com, tied together only by the historic – and mysterious – prison island of Alcatraz, as portrayed in the new TV series from JJ Abrams.

Alcatraz is historically known as the “The Rock” – an island situated in San Francisco Bay converted to a maximum-security prison, touted essentially as an impenetrable, and inescapable fortress. Supposedly.

In 2007, I had the privilege of visiting the prison when the ARGFest alternate reality gaming conference took place in San Francisco. The tour was a chilling, exciting look into history, providing a glimpse at the troubling and unsettling lifestyles of those who were sentenced and trapped within its walls.

It’s not surprising that Alcatraz has greatly interested creator JJ Abrams whose TV series premiered January 16th, which explores a mystery about the island and its inhabitants. And of course, JJ with his metaphorical mystery box has once again begun a viral/transmedia campaign to help extend the show and its story beyond our television set.

On Friday the 13th, Wikibruce received this package, laid out below, containing some mysterious artifacts from Abrams’ world of “Alcatraz”. If this extended experience is planned to be anywhere as expansive as the LOST Experience, it’s a good bet there is certainly much more to come during the life of the TV show.

The Package

This package was shipped from Burbank, CA. It’s unlikely that the source of the shipment is of any significance, being primarily to hide the viral creator identity (999-999-9999 is certainly not a mistake!).

The Box…

The metal box inside the packaging had no lock, and is a brushed metal texture.

Its contents:

1. A tour brochure “Discover Alcatraz” from 2011

2. A decrepit white flower

3. Alcatraz branded key

4. A Ford Mustang lapel pin

5. Newspaper clip from SF Intelligencer, March 22 1963

6. A postcard sent by “Susie” to “Nana Feinstein”

7. A souvenir lenticular postcard

8. Torn corner of page 65 from “Inmates of Alcatraz”

9. Torn magazine page with a book review and 2012 Ford Mustang ad

The Flower…

Other reported packages have contained a still live-looking flower, but have been reported it as either a white lotus, or a daisy.

There is a yellow chrysanthemum flower connection with the film Escape From Alcatraz:

We are first exposed to this flower in the yard during the prisoner’s sole hour of recreation each week. Doc, a venerable, old felon, paints a self-portrait with a flower in his breast pocket. Upon probing by Morris, we learn that it is a metaphor for his spirit. While the warden can take away all of his rights, the one thing they cannot take away from him is his flower. As long as he has his flower, his will to live, and, to some extent, to escape, will continue. To some, this symbolizes the never-ending struggle to escape from the island. Yet, to all, it provides them with a symbol of hope that they too will not wilt under the severity of the penal system.
~source: Return to Alcatraz

The Key…

Replica of an Alcatraz cellhouse key. All packages’ keys appear to be identical.

Ford…

A Ford Mustang tri-bar lapel pin.

Ford, clearly a corporate sponsor of the show, will undoubtedly be appearing repeatedly in any Alcatraz-related content, as seen in the Mustang ads below.

The Newspaper Clip…

San Francisco Bay Intelligencer, March 22 1963. The article of interest: “The Final Lockdown” by Gretchen Juerera. This article is dated the day after Alcatraz was closed and all inmates reportedly transferred.

Reverse: teaser ad for the announcement of the 1964 Ford Mustang.

(transcripts below)

The Final Countdown

ALCATRAZ. The very name connotes solitude, fear and punishment.

Thousands of America’s worst criminals were sentenced to hard time in this notorious penitentiary; many died there, others served out the full term of their respective stays, but nobody ever escaped. It was a severe locale that offered little to no promise of hope or redemption.

Last night, however, all USP Alcatraz prisoners vacated the premises once and for all.

What was the government’s official reason for closing the facility? In a word: money. Estimates indicate that it was costing over ten dollars per day to house the typical inmate. Compare that to the three-dollar per capita cost at other federal institutions. The financial strain was becoming too exorbitant to bear; shutdown was inevitable.

“This is an immense undertaking. We are completing the transfer paperwork on 256 inmates and working to find comparable positions for all 46 of our federal employees who will be displaced by this transition. But rest assured; our relocation initiative is taking every precaution to preserve the safety of all individuals involved, especially the civilian population at large.”

So, what will become of the ominous rock jutting from our majestic bay? City planners are remaining tight-lipped on the matter, but one thing is for sure: it is indelibly seared into the landscape of our past, our present and our future.

1964 Ford Mustang teaser:

The most exciting thing on TV tonight will be a commercial

Get your first good look at next year’s most exciting new car.
The new 1964 Ford Mustang!
Tonight

Susie’s Postcard…

A postcard depicting Alcatraz Island. Other packages received different postcards, however they all had the same message from “Susie” written (individually hand-written, I might add) on the backs.

The message references the scene near the beginning of episode 1, where a young girl (who we can assume to be Susie) breaks away from her tour group, and spots the episode’s antagonist Jack Sylvane lying in a cell.

Dear Nana,Alkatraz is fun. It smells old here. I went to a part where I wasn’t supost[sic] to go and a man was sleeping in the jail cell. I screamed and mom and dad found me. The guard told the sleeping man to leave. We all went home on the ferry.

Love, Susie

Souvenir Postcard…

This postcard is a heavier stock lenticular postcard, from 2008. The two scenes, seen by pivoting the card vertically, depict Alcatraz cell block C circa 1960, and as it appears ‘today’ (2008).

No further writing is on the clean postcard.

The Inmates…

This torn corner of page 85/86 is from the book “Inmates of Alcatraz“. On the front, p65, is the mug shot of Jack Sylvane, the episode 1 antagonist. The page itself appears on-screen (src: WelcomeToAlcatraz), though slightly different in page layout. Jack’s prison ID reads:

Nancy’s Book Review…

And finally, the artifact most relevant to the online campaign, a book review by Nancy Gleinen. This is page 34, torn from a magazine named “Commerce Quantified”. Nancy reviews the book Inmates of Alcatraz, by Dr. Diego Soto. Letters throughout the article are circled, however, and when put together spell “legendsofalcatraz”

This quickly led people to LegendsOfAlcatraz.com, a landing site boldly branded for the TV series. At the time of the show’s premiere, it contained a countdown to the airing of episode 1.

Inmates of Alcatraz appears in the TV show as the book that led officer Rebecca Madsen to Diego, who she considered a specialist in Alcatraz knowledge, as she sought help to locate the criminal (and ex-Alcatraz inmate) Jack Sylvane.

With his enthralling Inmates of Alcatraz, Dr. Diego Soto goes behind the bars and unlocks the twisted lives of a population formerly lost to history.

If you want a healthy dose of murder, regret and intrigue, don’t resort to watching soap operas – head out to your local bookstore and pick up the latest entry in Soto’s already impressive oeuvre that I like to call ‘Alcatraz revisited.’ He goes beyond the usual suspects (your Capones, your Machine Gun Kellys, your Birdmen) and paints an intimate portrait of dozens of forgotten inmates, each story leaping from the page with ferocity and renewed urgency. It’s as if they’re reanimating before your very eyes!

Despite the human-centric title, the book also delves into the foreboding setting of Alcatraz Island. ‘The Rock’ has never been so jagged, menacing and craggy – every vista provides a skewed take on humanity, Soto-style. He finds a way to transform the irregular outcropping into a shiv of brilliance. It is the judge, jury and executioner in this sordid tale of amorality run akok; no matter how notable the real-life characters in this book may be, they will never overshadow the prison itself.

But don’t take my word for it – Soto’s whimsical prose speaks for itself. Here’s an excerpt from the opening chapter of Inmates:

“Everything about USP Alcatraz is larger than life; the people, the history, even the daily operations boggle the mind. For instance, the feds shipped about a million gallons of fresh water from the mainland every week. Imagine: bringing water to an island. Trip out on that.”

Trip out, indeed. Soto bites into his subject matter like a jubilant piranha, shredding all preconceptions and injecting new blood into the burgeoning subgenre of obscure historiography. He revels in every scrap of evidence, reads them like decaying tea leaves and translates the whispers of the past into thunderous declarations of the now. Suffice it to say, Inmates of Alcatraz is my Book of the Week!

Diego “Doc” Soto is also the owner of a comic book shop called “Doc’s Comics and Collectibles”, which appears a few times in the show. He’s a somewhat social author, in that he’s also set up the twitter account @SotoDoc, though hasn’t used it in months. Additionally, he set up a very minimalistic tumbr blog for his store at docscomics.tumblr.com. Inside, we find an embedded commercial for his Inmates book — watch here:

From the episodes themselves, keen-eyed observers noticed a number of easter eggs and potential leads. For example, one of JJ Abrams’ staple easter eggs is the inclusion of the name “Kelvin” in his projects – his way of dedicating his work to his grandfather who influenced him as a child. Two instances have already beenspotted.

Additionally, in episode 2 a QR code was spotted next to Jack’s new cell block’s label “AZ 2024″. As of this writing, no one’s recreated a scannable replica of the code to determine what it reads.

Viral Verdict

Having watched the 2 hour premiere, it’s clear that the package contents were intended to tease at elements of the 2 episodes’ plots – from Jack Sylvane and Ernest Cobb to the very minor role of the young girl on the prison tour. The fact that much of the box content is available today for anyone visiting the island doesn’t lead me to believe that there any additional hints or unresolved threads. I’ve even combed over every artifact with a black light, hoping to find a hidden message, somewhere, but come up blank.

The existence of the (abandoned?) twitter account, and Diego’s tumblr blog implies that transmedia- possibly ARGish- content was, and likely still is on the drawing board. However, where LOST’s campaign provided mysteries and clues from the get-go, it seems that this rabbithole package has been fully resolved, being simply a teaser for the 2 hour premiere episodes.

The show itself has interested me, however, with a healthy dose of crime action, humour, and mystery (though somewhat diluted by preview videos and detailed looks at the series plot), but it left with a decent cliffhanger, beckoning me to return and watch the next episode. My primary hope though, is that with the apparent structure of the plot dealing with returning inmates – and guards – the extended experience will provide an independent parallel plot with its own characters and real-world mysteries and events tied in to the show, akin to the extended experience provided by the creators of Heroes.

Are authors Nancy Gleinen and Gretchen Juerera just one-offs? Will we see Diego’s book “Inmates of Alcatraz” appear in full for sale on Amazon or in book stores? Will Susie and Nana make a reappearance? Will we have more of Diego’s comic-book store activities entertain us? Will we help solve an inmate mystery and track down a criminal in the real world?

Wondering if there are any ARGs running that you might want to heck out? Here are just a few that are currently running, from grassroots fiction to new promo campaigns, thanks to community members who’ve provided some basic details to help catch up:

From there, it seemed at first that we were dealing with an A.I. gone nutso (think GLaDOS, HAL, or InterdimensionalGames’ “Henry”), and that we were communicating with an employee trying to stop it all – that would be Genus Orein. He had us working through the security levels of their remnant website trying to help them reach “L10″ (level 10) in their facility at Antarctica so we could reboot- or otherwise work on the A.I. LAINSY (Logical Artificial Intelligence Networked SYstem).

We found that Genus is one of the higher-ups in the company, and he was at the facility along with Dan who became our contact. Dan’s on the Board Of Directors, and Genus runs a division. Soon we discovered that LAINSY’s screwed up security system was tampered with. Genus was trapped in a bomb containment unit due to incomplete lockdown protocols, but eventually managed to escape. The protocols were reset, and Episode 1 ended.

With episode 2 came the introduction to Scimitar. Later determined to be Alex Sword, the head of the BOD, he had been working with Genus and several others to reset LAINSY so that some special code could be run which would re-enable her to accept a blocked-off command. He was never more specific than that. Genus has apparently also been hearing voices, and Alex hinted that they were aliens. A couple of players ended up “splintering” from the group, fulfilling Dan’s request to reboot LAINSY. This powerdown caused a) biohazardous materials spilled during the facility lockdown to be released into more of the facility, and b) LAINSY’s security mainframe to flood.

Eventually, Alex put together a team of his own and went to Antarctica to find Dan and his crew safe and sound due to the warnings they’d received. Their two teams put on HAZMAT suits and went down through the contaminated facility to drain the water around LAINSY which was now boiling from the core meltdown caused by the accidental “unplugging” of some of her components. Fortunately, they were able to drain the water and salvage enough working hardware to initiate a crippled boot, and also to stabilize the core.

Sometime during these events, Genus began a strange blog at genusorein.blogspot.com which seems to show nothing but very cryptic drawings and hinting at some sort of coded language.

Catch up and join the Unfiction discussion here (note, the events and discussion moves quickly!)

Glass Heaven

Jain from Unfiction says:

Last Saturday (July 23rd) the mysterious blog of William Jakobsen was discovered at GlassHeaven.org. Among other oddities, such as Will’s dog being stolen and replaced by an identical dog, the journal entries revealed a strange religious flyer found in Will’s attic. After decoding the mysterious writing and corresponding with an email address on the flyer we were given tasks to complete in order to earn the three pillars: Joy, Life, and Purity. Once these tasks were completed, the first of the new generation were born. Now we strive to learn more about each other, the Glass Heaven, and the Crystalline Lord. But it’s not all fun and games as an unknown ex-member of the church is interfering with messages from the Glass Heaven warning us of danger.

Will’s life is becoming more and more dangerous as well. Strange men in black capes bearing the prism-like logo of the church are delivering letters of warning to Will’s mailbox. His friend Lizzy is now a new generation member of the church. And he still hasn’t found his dog.

Foundonthetape

Paraphrased from the ‘story-so-far’ posted to its Steam community group:

A YouTube channel (foundonthetape) is found with a very unusual video, and four days later another video is posted.

4chan and Reddit are on it, and a code in the middle of one of the videos is solved. It’s a hex string that resolves to “tinyurl.com/BVU-800″ which leads to a downloadable Halflife: Episode 2 map.

This source map is a singular room (img) with a camera at a fixed location. The player is not a fixed entity and can wander about, knocking over objects etc. Moving into the door at the edge of the room leads to a picture and plays an EXTREMELY loud sound file (typically known as a “screamer”).

Due to the attempted actions of an unsuccessful gamejacker on Steam, another hex code was placed on the foundonthetape channel which resolves to “foundonthetape@gmail.com email 10.7mb”. Sending an email to this address results in an automated reply of: “stuck im stuck im stuck im stuck im stuck http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3JLYPG9M”. This MegaUpload file is another HL:ep2 map, this time a relatively large tunnel maze with various scripting inside.

The Inside Experience

From Lysithea at Unfiction:

Christina Perasso, a self-described Jack-of-all-trades, has been kidnapped. The last thing she remembers is chatting with her Mom, Cathy Perasso. Three days later she woke up feeling like she’d been drugged. Trapped in a spacious single room bedsit with high ceilings, Christina’s only link to the outside is a laptop. The kidnapper is controlling just about everything including the power, water, food and internet connection. Grainy webcam snapshots posted to Christina’s Facebook Wall add veracity to the story. Examining these photos leads to a few in-game websites.

In Episode 2, some federal agents raid the physical location of Christina’s IP address. Instead of a girl they discover a plastic mannequin holding a router and a postcard. A short puzzle trail with more creepy poetry hidden in the source code is uncovered at 332811.com

The product placement of the Intel-powered Toshiba notebook in this game has been well done. The main character has excellent reason to become increasingly attached to the computer.

The Inside Experience is playing out on Facebook, youtube, twitter, phone and email. The PMs have three basic rules which boil down to TINAG: “have fun with the experience, but the characters don’t know that they are in a movie so please don’t tell them” Many players are hopeful that their Facebook posts will end up in the final movie. As a result, almost everyone is posting in character.

This is your time. The world needs you. You must act now, before it’s too late.

On Friday July 15, at 12:00pm Pacific time, another countdown will reach 00:00 – a second opportunity for willing test subjects to volunteer themselves to the cause. But what’s in store this time?

Previously…

On June 30, the first countdown reached zero opening the door to a hectic nation-wide scramble — a mission labeled “Icefly”. In 15 cities across the United States, over the course of many hours, subjects were directed to specific physical locations in each city at set times, revealed randomly every hour. The first to arrive at each had to complete a task which would allow them to fulfill their portion of the mission — to rescue an Icefly. Watch this road report from one volunteer:

Recap…

Weeks earlier, mysterious instances of the phrase “TEST SUBJECTS NEEDED” began appearing at the end of 5 Gum TV commercials. Additionally, a number of E3 2011 attendees were handedenvelopes containing branded paraphernalia, and print ads for 5 Gum began appearing including in the lower corner a small white wasp-like insect (which is now believed to be an icefly) along with a coded phrase. Whether in the form of morse or a QR code, this message led people to TestSubjectsNeeded.com.

This website hinted at a sensory experiment, one asking for volunteers – test subjects. Users were prompted to complete a word association test, and then asked to sign up and provide contact information and a mailing address. Candidates were then permitted to create a unique, custom badge for their profile.

Following on June 13 at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee, a surreal event occurred. Between concerts, crowds of energetic people were treated to a gentle rainfall of glowing blue blinking lights. It was a scene quite reminiscent of some depicted in various 5 Gum commercials – individuals staring up into large swarming clouds of dots, objects. As the blue lights slowly hovered to the ground, the Bonnaroo crowds picked them up and examined them. On their wings were QR codes that led to MissionIcefly.com.

In the days and weeks to follow, subjects world-wide who had signed up at TestSubjectsNeeded.com began receiving packages in the mail from TestSubjectsNeeded.com (package sent to Wikibruce shown at right). Black or silver packaging contained another “icefly” – the origami helicopters with blinking LEDs that fell at Bonnaroo.

By now, MissionIcefly.com had been thoroughly examined. It displayed a timer that was counting down to June 30, at 12:00pm pacific. Once the countdown hit zero, Mission: Icefly began. When these first 15 successful test subjects completed their missions, a URL appeared in a corrupted video leading people to a new location, and a call to action narrated by Terry O’Quinn.

This monologue explains the importance of our senses, and specifically HSP – Heightened Sensory Perception. The backdrop for the narration is footage of individuals who lead the charge for the discovery and laboratory examination of an icefly that was buried in arctic ice – possibly for untold ages.

Having watched the entire video, users were directed to a chilly arctic landscape, in which stood a single lone door. This door, locked as of this writing, is the frame for a second timer; a new countdown leading to 12:00pm pacific, July 15.

Those 15 volunteers who rescued the iceflies took them home. These mechanical artifacts, when plugged in, began blinking in morse code, SURVIVALCODE.COM — the website that reveals more about … well, what this is all about… sort of.

While this campaign was discovered to be a partnership between veteran ARG creators 42 Entertainment and edgy gum franchise 5 Gum from Wrigley – the full extent of the campaign is as yet unknown. Skepticism about the campaign, as well as wild theories and speculation about its promotional content have run rampant, including hopes for connections to X-Men, Halo 4, even Bungie’s next video game; but they are just that: rampant speculation. Regardless, the project has been met with great excitement from the growing fan community, who’ve also created Facebook fangroups to connect and coordinate.

Prepare…

So, what will happen this Friday the 15th?

With the creation of user profiles on SurvivalCode.com came the revelation of a ‘game’, of sorts. A “Game Code Activation” feature allows users to input special unique codes that are found in specially marked packages of 5Gum. These codes, when redeemed, can be applied towards the collection of “keys”: Constellation keys, or Facility keys. Even their purpose, once again, is still unknown. But with the existence of what appears to be the beginning of a comic-book style story revealed in the form of ‘logs’, these keys may be used to unlock additional exclusive content, answers to mysteries, or perhaps rare prizes.

And what of the mysterious Traelek Institute? Mentioned by name in the initial prelude log comics, it’s believed to be the location of the classroom scene shown in The Genesis video, with Terry O’Quinn’s character appearing as a lecturer. Is it an evil organization? Or a high tech corporation that promises to save the world?

At the very least, if this is simply a promotional campaign for an upcoming 5 Gum flavor, it’s certainly pushing the edge of gum marketing, and has convinced thousands to run out to their nearest gum-selling stores on the hunt for icefly-labeled 5Gum packs. The campaign has been filled with high production quality, the hint of a grander story, a greater mystery and threat to humanity, promises of future events, challenges and puzzles, and of course a recurring appearance by adored LOST star, Terry O’Quinn. It’s the making of another 42 Entertainment-style mass-market Alternate Reality Game, in the footsteps of The Dark Knight’s Why So Serious?, and Tron: Legacy’s Flynn Lives campaigns.

Test Subjects Needed.Friday July 15th, 12:00pm PDT... Will you be the hero human-kind needs to survive?

Perception. It can’t be measured, proven, or even defined — but it warns us when we’re in danger. And it’s warning us now. Human kind is at a crossroads. If we want to survive, we must heed the call and explore the depths of our shared consciousness. This is a time for heroes… for seers, for sages. This is your time. The world needs you. You must act now, before it’s too late.

You can keep up to date with the ARG happenings at Wikibruce by bookmarking and visiting the community wiki:Icefly.Wikibruce.com

You can also join some of the community in IRC chat on the handy wiki page, or directly at:icr.chat-solutions.org:6667, channel #testsubjectsneeded(come by the chat especially on Friday at noon pacific time, 3pm eastern, to follow along live with the countdown’s events!)

Test subjects disclaimer:

These are not conventional experiments. Qualified test subjects volunteering their person for sensory based research will undergo enhanced amplifications as sensory reliant human beings. The outcomes of these experiments will provide experiential data on the effects of said studies on the body and mind of test subjects: the very finest and most rigorously obtained data from healthy test subjects chosen for their special capacity for excelling in said experiments. The specific nature and details of these activities will remain strictly verboten to test subjects excerpt at times when it becomes explicitly and unequivocally necessary, such as when the test subject is close to imminent transformational occurrences. Those involved will show an extraordinary commitment, cooperation and discretion in conducting these unconventional experiments, with a peculiar yet outstanding dedication that sets them apart. Following all instruction when and where given throughout the course of this series of experiments will afford test subjects opportunity to open and expand their sensorial faculties and ensure safety during the complete overhaul of their sensory capacities and capabilities. Test subject senses may not function as they are commonly understood to, and therefore may result in accelerated stimulation during, throughout, and indeed long after the conclusion of these unconventional experiments. Please remember that those with advanced understanding of the flexibility with regards to common laws of physics (E.G. gravity, inertia) are kindly asked to refrain fro participating in the unconventional experiment. Necessary parties, such as authorized test subject researchers, scientists, biologists, audiologists, optometrists, or test subjects, anthropologists, on an ad-hoc basis. Also note that we guarantee that no warranties or assurances are or will be provided to test subjects regarding the sensory capacities of any individual qualified as a test subjects, and any association test subjects may find between their experiences during these experiments and such phenomena as: heightened consciousness, sensory euphoria, ambidexterity, reverse color blindness, auditory night visions, tactile revelations, olfactory enlightenment or hair growth are completely coincidental. Adhering to all instructions when and where given throughout the course of this series of experiments will afford you the opportunity to open all doors and unexplored facilities in your realm of understanding. When the counter above hits zero the time will come for you to volunteer your services to the Human Preservation Project. Test subjects are needed now. You are needed now.